Barclays banks on private cloud to reduce costs

Barclays Bank’s internal cloud has allowed the financial behemoth to reduce its software costs by up to 90 per cent, it has been claimed.

The bank originally introduced its Linux-powered private cloud back in 2009, using it to run file transfers - such as financial transactions - for its 50 million customers across the globe.

The internal cloud also underpins two new consumer banking services launched in 2012: its mobile payment service Pingit and the Barclays Mobile Banking app.

The Sunday Times initially reported the set up had allowed the firm to cut its total IT costs by 90 per cent, saving the firm billions of pounds.

However, Cloud Pro has been told the savings will be made in software alone, and Barclays declined to confim the savings made would be as high as 90 per cent.

The newspaper also suggested Barclays would be abandoning the likes of Microsoft, Oracle and SAP in favour of its own proprietary infrastructure, a claim the bank has been quick to play down.

In a statement to Cloud Pro, a Barclays spokesperson said: “We are making big improvements to our technology platforms which allow us to reduce costs and develop new services for customers much more rapidly. We continue to work with a large range of suppliers.”

Jane McCallion is ITPro's Managing Editor, specializing in data centers and enterprise IT infrastructure. Before becoming Managing Editor, she held the role of Deputy Editor and, prior to that, Features Editor, managing a pool of freelance and internal writers, while continuing to specialize in enterprise IT infrastructure, and business strategy.

Prior to joining ITPro, Jane was a freelance business journalist writing as both Jane McCallion and Jane Bordenave for titles such as European CEO, World Finance, and Business Excellence Magazine.